securing our rights to the future and the present

The practical side of Future Generations Thinking looks at sustainable development and governance, searching to establish global legal principles such that current policies and actions are less focused on the immediate and more on the very long term. The climate crisis doesn’t see borders or nations and therefore demands international and global policy unity in order to deal with the the many long term challenges it will bring. International unity is being fostered by the climate justice movement’s global focus and, in particular, what the ecologist John Bellamy Foster calls ‘species consciousness’: an increasing sense of universalist identification with humanity and other species. In our increasingly globalised world, where individuals living thousands of miles away are connected in seconds via the internet, it has never been easier to relate to other people. The environmental movement is taking advantage of this more and more through coalitions and solidarity that stretches beyond borders to help pressure politicians to build the same type of unity on the policy.

Policy unity can come from international organisations at the government level. The EU’s emissions trading scheme ensures that businesses in countries across the EU have to report and reduce their emissions over time - strengthening international commitments to a long term emissions reduction policy. However critics of the scheme have pointed out its willingness to allocate emissions allowances for high-emitting sectors and failures to meet its emissions goals. As international consensus is difficult to achieve, especially as the election system cycles out willing governments for obstructive regimes, international bodies like the EU and the UN are important institutions of future thinking policy making.

There are other ways to shift policy to focus on securing our future. New Zealand has added a wellbeing budget which aims to entrench mental health, indigenous community investment and climate policies in the long term economic planning of a country - leaving behind the obsession with GDP in favour of creating a happier, more sustainable country. Putting in place structures and budgets which look towards the wellbeing of a society acts as a safety net for people in the present whilst helping to guide us to create a kinder society for future generations.

Law is another key avenue for achieving long term change. From the recent Dutch court ruling that Shell must cut its emissions by 2030 to attempts to enshrine the rights of indigenous peoples in law, the law is able to hold short-termist governments to account and protect future-focused principles. Legal charities such as Client Earth have the power to challenge governments on issues — such as when they took the UK government to court on air pollution and won — and their commitment to establishing legal precedents that help ensure the long term safety of future peoples in law is another key part of living with future generations in mind.